Report of the East Riding Boulder Committee

2011 to 2021

Alphabetic version

This is a list of glacial erratics found on field meetings of the Hull Geological Society or records contributed by members and friends.

This list was compiled by Mike Horne** from fieldwork, with additional data contributed by Anne Horne, Janet Harrison (Jan Robson), Richard Ablett, Jim Whittaker and Stephen Whittaker. 

The sites are arranged alphabetically. There are different lists for material recorded in the boulder clay cliffs, beach exposures and loose on the beach. The specimens recorded were seen loose on the beach unless otherwise specified. The erratic listings have been arranged alphabetically by David Hill.

Aldborough - fossil wood, Lithostrotion, Phylloceras.

Barmston (north of road end) – black Carboniferous Limestone, black flint (common), brown quartzite, brown sandstone, granite, Cannon Ball Limestone, gneiss, green sandstone, Gryphaea, jasper, Jurassic rootlet bed, Larvikite, Lithostrotion, New Red Sandstone, Norwegian porphyry, Old Red Sandstone, porphyry, red conglomerate, red flint, red granite, ripple marked sandstone, shelly Jurassic limestone, yellow quartz (relatively rare).

Barmston in situ in the cliff - basalt, brown quartzite, Carboniferous Limestone, Dactylioceras commune, green chert, grey-brown sandstone, jasper, Jurassic belemnite, Magnesian Limestone, pale brown sandstone, yellow quartz.

Barmston (south of Barmston Drain) - Arnioceras, black flint, brown flint, Chalk, Cheviot Porphyry, granite, grey flint, Gryphaea, "Haggis Rock", Old Red Sandstone, porphyry, white quartz.

Bridlington in situ beach exposure of shelly till (Basement Till) - Arctica islandica (broken shells), black flint, Gryphaea.

Carnelian Bay – amygdaloidal basalt, Brockram, Cannon Ball Limestone, Cardinia in limestone, carnelian, chert, Cheviot Porphyry (common), garnet gneiss, gneiss, granite, green Lake District conglomerate, Gryphaea, jasper, Larvikite, Lithostrotion in red Carboniferous Limestone, muscovite schist, New Red Sandstone, Productids in Carboniferous Limestone, syenite, white quartz, yellow quartz.

Danes Dyke – black flint, black shelly Carboniferous Limestone, grey flint, Larvikite, New Red Sandstone, pink granite, rhomb porphyry.

Easington Beach – black flint, black shelly limestone, brown sandstone, Chalk, Cheviot porphyry, crinoidal Carboniferous Limestone, "dogger", dolerite, gneiss, grey flint, Gryphaea in limestone, jasper, Liassic ammonite, Lithostrotion, Norwegian porphyry, Old Red Sandstone, pink granite, pyrite, red flint, septarian nodule (? Kimmeridgian), white quartz, yellow quartz. Note - the Larvikite on the beach probably comes from the sea defenses for the Gas Terminal.

Easington walking north from Seaside Road, in situ beach exposure of shelly till (probably "Basement Till") – amygdaloidal basalt,  Arctica islandica (broken shells), black flint, Chalk, Cheviot Porphyry, coal, dark red sandstone, gneiss, Gryphaea, jasper, Macoma, Middle Jurassic rootlet bed, Old Red Sandstone, pale grey chert, pink quartzite, pink syenite, sandstones, Scrobicularia, white quartz. Note - no grey flint.

Kelsey Hill – Cardium, grey flint, Gryphaea, Ostrea.

Keyingham New Pit (south of the main road) – ammonite in orange sandstone, Astarte, belemnite from the Chalk, black flint, Buccinum, carnelian, Chalk, coal, cockles, Corbicula, crinoidal Carboniferous Limestone, Exogyra, gneiss, grey flint, Gryphaea, Inoceramus in flint, jasper, Jurassic belemnite, Old Red Sandstone, oysters, pale brown cross-bedded sandstone, quartzite, red granite, rhomb porphyry, rotten grey granite, scaphopods, Scrobicularia fluminaris, vesicular basalt, weathered Chalk pebbles, whelk, winkles, yellow quartz.

Keyingham Old Pit in situ "Basement Till" – brown sandstone, Chalk, Gryphaea, Jurassic belemnites, yellow sandstone.

Keyingham Old Pit – ammonite in Kimmeridge Clay, Asteroceras, black flint, Brockram, brown sandstone, Cheviot Porphyry, coal, fossil horsetail, garnet schist, gneiss, granite, grey flint, ironstone, Jurassic plant bed, Kimmeridge Clay, Larvikite, Lithostrotion, Magnesian Limestone, New Red Sandstone, Norwegian porphyry, Old Red Sandstone, piddock-bored Chalk, red flint, Shap Granite, weathered dolerite, Whin Sill.

Keyingham (mixed pits) – Arnioceras, basalt, black flint, Brockram, brown flint, brown sandstone, Chalk bored by piddocks, Dogger, Flamborough Chalk sponges, flow banded rhyolite, garnet schist, grey flint, Gryphaea, ironstone, jasper, Jurassic belemnite, Kimmeridge Clay, lignite, Lithostrotion, Lower Jurassic shelly limestone, New Red Sandstone, Old Red Sandstone, pink quartz, porphyry, red flint, sandstones, Shap Granite.

Kilnsea beach (site of the Godwin Battery which is now on the beach) – black flint, carnelian, Cheviot Porphyry, gneiss, granite, grey flint, Gryphaea, Larvikite, Lithostrotion, Middle Jurassic rootlet bed, New Red Sandstone, Norwegian Porphyry, Old Red Sandstone, red flint, white quartz, yellow quartz.

North of Mappleton (ca. TA 225 447) in situ in the Red Band in cliff and beach exposure (TA 224 446) - black mudstone, brown quartzite, Carboniferous Limestone, charcoal, coarse orange sandstone, dark grey flint, green conglomerate, green jasper, grey sandstone, Gryphaea, ? Hibolites, Magnesian Limestone, New Red Sandstone, Old Red Sandstone, pale grey septarian nodule, red mudstone, Tilberthwaite Tuff, white quartz, yellow quartz. Note - almost no Chalk.

Mappleton (in situ in the cliff) – black flint, black shelly Carboniferous Limestone, Chalk, Gryphaea, Hibolites, Jurassic belemnite, Kimmeridge Clay, Middle Jurassic Sandstone, Neohibolites, New Red Sandstone, Old Red Sandstone, Pecten in grey sandstone, pink chalk, porphyry, red chalk, septarian nodule, yellow quartz.

Mappleton going south - Acroteuthis, Arnioceras, Asteroceras, basalt, belemnite from the Speeton Clay, belemnite in soft Chalk raft, Belemnitella mucronata, black Cheviot Porphyry, black flint, black shelly Carboniferous Limestone, brecciated Chalk, brown sandstone, Canninia, Cannon Ball Limestone, Cardinia, Chalk bored by piddocks, Chalk, Cheviot porphyry, coal, crinoidal Carboniferous Limestone, D. commune, Dactyllioceras tennuicostatum, Dogger, Echinocorys, Exogyra, fossil wood, gneiss, Gonioteuthis, green jasper, green sandstone, grey flint, Gryphaea in shelly limestone, Gryphaea, Hildoceras, horsetail tree trunk, ice-scratched Carboniferous Limestone, ice-scratched Chalk, Infulaster, jasper, Jurassic belemnite, Jurassic oolitic limestone, Jurassic plant bed, Kellaways belemnite, Kimmeridge Clay, Kimmeridge septarian nodule, Larvikite, Lithostrotion, Middle Jurassic Sandstone, Modiolus, Neohibolites, New Red Sandstone, Norwegian Porphyry, Offaster, Oxyteuthis, Pecten in Jurassic limestone, Pentacrinus, pink chalk, Polyptichites, Pseudomytilloides dubius, pyrite, quartz, quartzite, red chalk, red flint, red granite, ripple marked shale, rusty brown sandstone, sandstone with trace fossils, septarian nodule from the Speeton Clay, Speeton Clay nodules.

Red Cliff, near North Ferriby – B. mucronata, black flint, brown sandstone, carnelian, Chalk pebble with small borings, Chalk, gneiss, grey flint, grey porphyry, grey quartz, Gryphaea, ice scratched Carboniferous Limestone, ice scratched Chalk, jasper, Kimmeridgian ammonite in shale, limonite, Middle Jurassic rootlet bed, Old Red Sandstone, quartzite, white quartz, yellow quartz, yellow sandstone.

Sand-le-Mere in situ in the cliff - Chalk, coal, New Red Sandstone, Kimmeridge Clay.

Sand-le-Mere - on the beach – Arnioceras, augen gneiss*, carnelian, Chalk, Cheviot porphyry, Dactylioceras commune, Feldspar pegmatite*, Frosterly Marble, gneiss, green jasper, grey flint, grey granite, Gryphaea, ironstone, jasper, Larvikite*, Lithostrotion (common), Norwegian Porphyry, Old Red Sandstone, orange agate, Pentacrinus, red flint, red granite, shelly Jurassic limestone, vesicular basalt, Whin Sill, white quartz, yellow quartz. [*are these natural erratics or have they been transported from sea defences?]

North of Sand-le-Mere - ca. 305325 - in situ in the cliff in "Withernsea Till" – brown sandstone, Carboniferous Limestone, Chalk, coal, coarse grey sandstone, late Cretaceous belemnite, New Red Sandstone.

North of Sand-le-Mere - ca. 305325 - on the beach – basalt, black flint, brown septarian nodules (relatively common), carnelian, Chalk, Dactylioceras, dark grey gneiss, Dogger, Frosterly Marble, granite, green conglomerate, Gryphaea (relatively rare), Jurassic fossil wood, large grey septarian nodules (from the Kimmeridgian and/or Speeton Clay), Larvikite (relatively common), Lithostrotion (common), Lithostrotion in red limestone, Middle Jurassic rootlet bed, Neohibolites, Old Red Sandstone, pink chalk, Pleuroceras, pyrite, red flint, red Norwegian Porphyry, yellow quartz.

Skipsea beach - corals in red Carboniferous Limestone, jet, Larvikite.

Skipsea Cliff in situ – banded grey flint, basalt, belemnite from the Speeton Clay, black flint, black shale, Carboniferous Limestone, Chalk (common), coal, dark grey sandstone, dark grey shale, dolerite, gneiss, green jasper, grey flint,  grey mudrock, grey sandstone, Gryphaea, ice-scratched Carboniferous Limestone. ironstone nodule, jet, Jurassic belemnite, Jurassic rootlet bed, Larvikite, Magnesian Limestone, New  Red Sandstone, Old Red Sandstone, orange quartzite,  pale brown layered sandstone, pale grey careous flint, phosphate nodule, pink granite, pink quartzite, "porphyry, medium grained", red sandstone with crinoid stem, ? rhyolite, Tilberthwaite Tuff, white vein quartz, yellow chalk (bored by sponges when on a beach), yellow quartz.

Skipsea Withow Mere in situ in cliff – Chalk, ice-scratched Carboniferous Limestone, Jurassic rootlet bed, New Red Sandstone, Norwegian Porphyry.

Skirlington beach - Hildoceras.

South Ferriby Foreshore (Lincolnshire) on beach – basalt, crinoidal Carboniferous Limestone, grey granite, ice-scratched Carboniferous Limestone, New Red Sandstone, Old Red Sandstone, porphyry, scaphopods in shelly Lower Jurassic limestone.

South Landing (in the "West Nook Gravels" exposed in the cliff) – amygdaloidal basalt, basalt, black Cheviot Porphyry, black flint, brown sandstone, gneiss, grey flint, limonite, Old Red Sandstone, porphyry, red amygdaloidal lava, white quartz, yellow quartz,

South Landing (on beach) – basalt, Carboniferous Limestone, Jurassic plant bed, Old Red Sandstone, red granite.

Speeton – Brockram, Cheviot porphyry, Corallian Limestone with Thalassonoides, gneiss, jasper, Lake District green conglomerate, Lithostrotion, Norwegian porphyry, pink granite.

Ulrome - pyrite crystals.

Withernsea beach ca. 500m north of Promenade – amygdaloidal basal, belemnite from the Chalk, black flint, bored chalk, brown sandstone,  Carnelian, Chalk, chert, Cheviot Porphyry, crinoidal Carboniferous Limestone, Dactylioceras, Dogger, dolerite, echinoid in black flint, gneiss, grey flint, Gryphaea, Inoceramus, jasper, Larvikite, Lithostrotion, Lower Jurassic shelly limestone, middle Jurassic Rootlet Bed, New Red Sandstone, Old Red Sandstone, pink granite, red flint, white quartz, yellow quartz, green slag (not an erratic).

Withernsea in situ in the cliff south of the Promenade (now hidden by 2021 sea defenses) – black flint, black igneous rock, brown sandstones, Chalk, ?chert, coal, grey flint, New Red Sandstone, Old Red Sandstone, shale.

Withernsea beach south of the Promenade - Black flint, Gryphaea, Lithostrotion, grey flint, pale brown sandstone, white quartz, yellow quartz, basalt, Jurassic grey rootlet bed, pink chalk, Arnioceras, belemnite from the Chalk, red flint, pink gneiss, New Red Sandstone.

Withernsea beach south of the 2021 sea defenses – Chalk, grey flint, New Red Sandstone, yellow micaceous sandstone.

Withernsea south of the 2021 sea defenses in situ in the cliff – Acroteuthis, basalt, black flint, brown porphyry, brown sandstone, buff sandstone, Carboniferous Limestone, Chalk, ? chert, coal (common), grey chert, grey flint, grey sandstone, grey shale, Gryphaea, Harpoceras, jasper veins in red sandstone, Jurassic belemnite, Magnesian Limestone, Middle Jurassic Plant Bed, New Red Sandstone, Old Red Sandstone, orange sandstone, Pecten in mudstone, pink chalk, pink granite, Pseudomytilloides dubius, red chalk, shale, white vein quartz, yellow micaceous sandstone, yellow quartz.

References/further reading :

Harrison R & M Horne 1992. The East Yorkshire Boulder Committee, report for the years 1987 to 1991. Humberside Geologist 10, 18-22.

Horne M 1992. Starting Geology in East Yorkshire. Humberside Geologist 10, 13.

Horne M 2000. Report of the East Riding Boulder Committee 1992 to 2000. Humberside Geologist 13, 42-45

Rockett T 1992. Glaciation and the Yorkshire Coast. Humberside Geologist 10, 14.

Sheppard T 1903. Geological Rambles in East Yorkshire. 235pp Browns, Hull.

copyright Hull Geological Society 2021